Profit warnings and job cuts weighed down the markets to a lower close with the Dow plunging 243 points to 8691 to end a two day rally. Nasdaq dropped 24 points to 1547.
On the upside
Sunrise Senior Living (NYSE: SRZ) received proceeds of approximately $8.3 million after refinancing the debt from a joint venture.Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) licensed Nvidia's (Nasdaq: NVDA) Nvidia PhysX technology development platform to be used at the game developer's global studios.
Raymond James analyst Bryan C. Elliott upgraded O'Charley's (Nasdaq: CHUX) after the casual restaurant operator amended its credit facility.
On the downside
Fitch lowered its ratings for Host Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HOT) last week due to sharply lower travel and hotel stays as the economy continues to flounder.
Shareholders of National City (NYSE: NCC) have filed lawsuits to halt the sale of the commercial bank to PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC) saying that the sale price was too low.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plummeted 16 points to 466.
